TLN

Hardboot and alpine is like a cheat code for icy condition and carving. You can ride same carves/speed as on your softie with no effort. Lean sideways, front/back - edgehold is great, you know that board will hold the edge. It's more fun to ride faster/tight turns though, and you'll get some crashes doing so. Hardboots might be uncomfortable, but once you dialed in - they're pretty comfy.

I think that board 1. Almost never reaches 90 degree. 2. It rips through snow. Tips dig into snow deeper, then board center. If center touches the snow, that pretty much means that other parts of board dig though the snow 3-4cm deep which is enough to hold the rider. 3. Obviously that 8m board will hold edge a bit less then 13m. But you have to put more force into 13m board to go tight radius. 4. Talking about stiff/soft board and snow: harder the snow - softer board you need. You want board to bend a bit more and touch the snow. More skill you have - stiffer board you can ride.

I see that it's harder to adapt it for lighter riders, but for 200+ riders this shouldn't be a problem.

Will be too soft for 220lbs?

May be owners of that hill doing something wrong? They have to water it, or lube it to prevent such things.

^ this. Start without a plate. Put it later.

Well, I if I'm heavier rider, and I don't mind it being torsionally stiff - I'm good then?

I have F2 Eliminator worldcup 166. That's metal+carbon version. Season 13-14 I believe, last one they made 166. Longest they have is 163 now. 245 waist, 12.5m avg VSR I believe. I also have Burton Elevators, if you're interested. I live in midwest too, so you might save on shipping. PM if you're interested.

I see what you're saying. It's interesting comparsion indeed. Wonder if we'll get similar results with other boards: i.e. compare metal race board with Glass board. Say SG Full Carve vs Kessler 180 for example. Different brand and construction. I wasn't following the whole thread about titanal and everything, but I guess the supply of 0.3mm is limited, while 0.4mm is widely available. 0.4 is stiffer then 0.3 obviously. Tell me please, should I worry, if my weight is 200lbs+? :)

I have similar F2, but Worldcup edition. That's metal board, and would be fair to compare to Kessler. I agree that top clear layer affects the performance. But IMHO, metal adds so much to the board, so you should only compare metal-to-metal boards. Carbon vs glass is fine to me.

Just curios, isnt Cross a metal board? Carbon f2 have to metal (WC does). I'm not sure about cross though. May be it's not Kessler, but F2 was made for different weight? While F2 position Eliminator as BX board, they're definately more user-friendly. ps. @BLOODTYPEZX10R soulds like something fun and interesting. Fx sounds extremely nice.

Bought SG proteam 163 this season. This is shortest board I've even owned in 10 years.

My thoughts, exactly. I will probably be there, and just grab a regular freestyle board. I don't have a rockboard in US, so rentals is the way to. Mind you asking about prices for tickets or may be rentals? ps. You're talking about old Elan Ballistic or new with titanal?

What's your overall opinion on that? Worth going? If there's a rental nearby? I don't wanna trash my Coiler or other boards like I see here on a pics.

I was contacting Ride several times before too. Support was great and responsive.

Oh, sorry, Missed that. I've tried my 4WD 179 in powder, and that was terrible. I will do way better now in similar conditions, but thanks. I can see how this works for someone else though. I was 220+lbs riding in 4ft fresh pow/trees. I guess everyone here have different definition of "all mountain", "trees", "powder" and carving which causes lots of confusion.

I personally don't get an idea of hardboots in pow on anything but swallowtail, but may be that's just me. I've been to Chicago local resorts. No bumps, trees, or something else. No powder also. I agree that something wider would work better for newbie though.

OP haven't posted his weight, have he? I personally think that slalom board, especially old one(glass and single radius) is solid choice for a beginner. I never tried AF700, but guess it will work ok for heavier riders. Bottom line: it all depends on weight-skills and asking price to me.

Why all the newbie topics comes down to kesslers and plates? All he need to start - is good boots with comfy liner, good bindings, and pretty much any board suitable for weight. That will keep him happy for 2 or more years.

I was writing a response, but it wasn't posted here. Cheers to Chicago carvers. I live in windy city also, and ride local resorts. Feel free to reach out, it always more fun riding together. In my opinion it all depends on a skills and weight. As @teach said: 220lbs and 150 lbs makes bigg difference. I was asking same questions when I started carving, so long story short: Bindings: F2 Race Ti. Boots: UPZ if you're into carving and willing to spend. Start with used Deeluxe if you not sure. Moldable liner is a must for any boos. Board: For local hills you want something shorter. Waist about 20-21 is a good starting point. If you wanna save a little - you can start with used board - believe me it will be as much fun as new one. Modern Donek/Prior/Coiler is a great great choice. With hardboots - it will be easier to "make board turn" then softboard, so no worries here. I was riding hardboots only last season (simply because I didn't bought soft boots/bindings last year) - and I got no problems on my almost-GS Coiler 180: from icy conditions to spring slush. If you're 200lbs or more - you can try my boards/plate if you want.

<= Not a racer. Went from 280lbs to 205. Was ~240 on average. I've bought road bike this summer as well. Pretty cool thing I should say. 50-60 miles rides works great for me. I'm not participating in group rides,riding mostly alone. Gym: squats, deadlift and everything else is a good idea also. You need to have strong core and legs. I'm not doing anything specific for alpine, but I will include more different exercises in the gym this fall. Personally I see two problems: 1. leg veins. I have problems with em. All the sports I do (snowboard, bike, basketball) require stronger legs what leads to vein problems. 2. I'm stil debating what to do during winter season: on one hard I want to be stonger, and people usually gaining weight during the winter. On the other hand I want to be lighter. That's a biggest debate to be honest. I can get to something about 240-250 but that's no fun for snoboarding. I can get below 200 but that's no fun for anything else :)

I'd take this buron bag but I'm afraid shipping to 60601 would cost as much as bag.

UPD: Will consider Pogo Hardcore/Overdose and similar, i.e. 158-162 boards

So... no MK for me?

Thanks for offer, but that's way too much for smaller hills in WI/IL area.